


Keep your silver, give me that gold

by hcneybee



Series: Covered by Law [1]
Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Boxing, Drabble, Fighting, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, OC, One Shot, Out of Character, Police Officer! Mike Ross, argument, very minor spoiler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-21 07:43:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21071354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hcneybee/pseuds/hcneybee
Summary: When Harvey and Mike are having a feud in the office, it goes far more beyond the case and into personal territory. Harvey states that at least he’s man enough to fend himself, unlike Mike who he sees as a scrawny kid who’s ass the wind could beat. It ends up with Harvey challenging Mike to a boxing match as a way to prove that he can fend for himself.Everyone ( By that I mean Jessica, Donna, Louis and of course - Harvey ) thought that Mike would be lucky to leave with just a sore chest but Mike’s actual boss would beg to differ.Or : The AU where Mike is an undercover cop and after an argument, Mike and Harvey fight it out in the ring.





	Keep your silver, give me that gold

**Author's Note:**

> ┋ Title inspired by —  
┋ The Score ; Unstoppable

Donna winced at the sound coming from the intercom. The shouting from the two males was endless. Mike and Harvey were fighting over a case, even with the intercom turned off you could still hear every word clear as day. “If you would have just listened to me—“ “Why should I listen to you? Do I have to remind you who’s the senior partner again?” it was endless. 

The shouting continued for about 5 more minutes and Donna was seriously pondering switching off the intercom for the first time in her life but once she started to listen to the conversion (She stopped listening about 15 minutes ago, yes it has been that long) - she noticed it got personal.

They weren’t just yelling about how to deal with their newest enemy but now about each other. Insults were thrown about their movie taste, music taste or even food! Which was ironic looking that they liked most of the stuff the other liked. Even with the juicy blackmail flowing through the device, Donna reached out to turn it off but right before pressing that one plastic button, “At least I am man enough to actually defend myself and not get beat up by some guy who’s wife you slept with!”

Oh snap.

“Excuse me?!” Mike quickly retorted “You fucking heard me!” “I was caught off guard! I could have defended myself if—“ “Yeah, keep making excuses. If you’re such a man then fight it out with me”

“What?”

“You heard me, friday, 2 pm, ring” Mike looked lost, his lips were parted and brows furrowed like he wanted to say something but didn’t know exactly what. 

“Are you kidding me? We have work, I’m not doing that” Mike turned on his heal to go back to the bullpen but got this glint in his eyes that even a 5 year old could tell what he was about to do. “You know what? Fine! Let’s fight it out” Harvey smirked and stood up from his chair “Let’s then, don’t be late or I’m counting that as a win in my book” he stuck out a hand for Mike to shake but Mike turned and walked out of Harvey’s office.

Harvey would usually be mad at that but Donna could tell that Harvey was having fun with this. She didn’t want to see Mike break a leg because if she was honest with herself, she knew who would win. Harvey has done boxing for as long as she knows him and probably even longer, he’s experienced and Mike… Mike is Mike. A genius but definitely not a fighter.

She waltzes into Harvey’s office with a look that basically states ‘What the hell did you just do?’ and Harvey all so innocently asks “What?” “What? What?! Harvey, you can’t fight Mike!” 

“Why not? He insisted”

“And you proposed, you have to cancel”

“Donna, now, you know I can’t. He will get in over his head and think that he won” Harvey deadpans, Donna knows that if she tried to argue, it will be like those 15 minutes with Mike - a non-stop shouting match. So she decides against it “Then you better now give the kid a concussion or I swear to god you’ll lose more then a dick” 

“I’ll think about it”

“Harvey!”

“Go back to work, Donna”

= - = - =

Ryan was laughing. Laughing. Whilst Mike was panicking about accepting to fight his god damn boss and this fucker was laughing. He loves his friends, honestly. “You did what??” “Ryan, I told you 7 times already but you still haven’t answered on what the fuck do I do?!” 

“I still don’t understand what you’re so worked up about, you could beat that guy’s ass no problem” “He’s Harvey Specter! Not some low life associate” this is where Mike regrets his decisions in taking up the job of being an undercover cop. He had to hide a lot of things in his life, like his friends (Who were mostly from his department. Who are we kidding, all of them are from the department), his wealth, the place he lived at (Believe it or not, the shoe box was not his actual apartment) among other things.

He loved his job, it paid really well and he met a lot of people along the way but sometimes it was just too much, not even talking about his sleeping schedule. On the surface, there really wasn’t a problem with him fighting Harvey, if he hadn’t spent the entirety of his stay at Pearson Hardman trying to make himself look like the ‘I’m a genius but I physically can’t hurt a fly’ type. But you could probably guess that a god damn police officer could actually hurt more then a fly.

He had 4 options at this point. 

1\. To quit now and be endlessly tormented by Harvey;  
2\. Fake being weak and get his ass whooped, stroking Harvey’s already huge ego and being the comedy show at his department;  
3\. Actually try and maybe beat Harvey’s ass in the process;  
4\. Move to Australia, change your name to Bruce Wayne and never speak of this again.

The first one was definitely off the list, he was already being tormented for other things, no need to add more to the pile. The fourth option, even though seems lovely, he simply can’t disappear because it will take 0.5 seconds for anyone in the police force to track him down. And call him a pussy - yeah he can’t be called a pussy.

It was left between 2 and 3. As much as he didn’t want to add anymore blocks to the huge skyscraper that is Harvey’s egotism, he will probably have to looking that the 3rd option could lead to him being found out. If it was some random coffee shop barista asking him to fight, he wouldn’t mind kicking their ass but this is Harvey Specter they are talking about.

He wasn’t about to risk everything for that sweet surprised look on Harvey’s face.

“Dude, you still with me?” Ryan waved his beer in Mike’s face, I guess he was lost in thought “Heeeello, earth to chief” “Yes, agent Earth? Sorry wrong number, isn’t this Sergeant Idiot speaking?” “Rich coming from a guy who will let his boss break his foot tomorrow”

“Wait, friday’s tomorrow?!” Mike stood up quickly, shit he got so lost in the case that he completely lost track of the calendar. “Sorry, Ryan, I gotta go think about my life decisions!” Mike started to run only hearing Ryan’s “I’ll ask Shana to clear your schedule!!” before closing the break rooms door behind him and running out of the department building. The building was almost invisible in the dark night since it was made up mostly of glass. He didn’t work in those floor though. He worked in the downer levels so he couldn’t see his office from here.

He got a taxi and gave the address to his actual apartment, not the shoe box. The apartment building funnily enough was the same apartment building Harvey lived in. No joke, he was his neighbor - and somehow he was supposed to avoid this man each morning. That’s why he stayed in his fake apartment most of the time. 

He nodded at the doorman and went up to the private elevator, the first time he went up to Harvey’s condo, he had to act surprised at the scene laid out before him. The beautiful view, the big apartment, the glass elevator, all of that. But he had all that in his apartment as well so it wasn’t really that shocking to see all of it.

His apartment wasn’t as modern as Harvey’s but he called it more… homely. The warm colors and plants in the corners of the large living room really softened the room the same as the big ebony bookshelf sitting near the TV. He went home early today so he could get some more sleep - if he was going to be an actor tomorrow, he needed all the energy he could get.

He striped to his boxers, placing his clothes in the hamper at the corner of his room and flopped onto the sheets. He fell asleep in seconds, to the thought and panic of what will happen tomorrow.

= - = - =

“Jessica?”

“Harvey”

“That was more of a question of what the hell are you doing here”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she looked around the gym in mere amusement, the playful smirk on her lips definitely gave it away. “Well I’m a bit busy prepping to kick my associates ass” Harvey punched the leather bag in front of him, the chains holding it up jingled at the force, the bag started to sway lightly. “Oh I’m not here to interrupt you. I’m here to watch you” Harvey stopped the bag and looked at Jessica. 

She was wearing a tan sleeveless dress which held her form perfectly, her dark black heels shined under the gym lights. Harvey pursed his lips slightly in a questioning look but before he could get out his question he saw none other then Louis. “Where the hell did they put the water cooler in this place?!” he and Donna walked into view, Louis stomping around searching for a water cooler and Donna was trying to calm him down.

“Oh sorry did I say ‘I’m’? I meant ‘we’re’” Jessica replied smugly, sometimes he hated that she was his boss and even trying to talk back to her would end up badly - not like he listened most of the time. “Jessica, I’m not doing some clown show. Only Mike is so... if you’ll excuse me—“ “Well that’s exactly what we came to watch. What? You think we would have missed out on the only time you actually get to beat ass?” 

“Excuse me? I beat ass on a daily basis”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that. I’ll be surprised if the kid even shows up”

“I know Mike, he’ll show” Harvey said with confidence and turned to punch the bag once more. “Donna, what time is it?” he asked. “Do I look like your personal clock?” “Donna” “Of course not, you couldn’t afford a clock like me. The golden rim, the emerald arrows—“ “Donna!” “1:57 pm”

“Oh, Mike definitely chickened out!” Louis shouted crunching (or at least slightly damaging) the plastic cup previously filled with water. “Don’t be so sure, he still has 3 minutes left” Donna quickly said, as much as she knew that Harvey would win she was going to at least cheer him on.

They waited for a few more minutes, the sound of dumbbells and punching bags being hit rang through the large gym. Donna tapped her foot both nervously and impatiently “Okay, where the hell is—“ “Mike Ross?” all 4 of them turned to see none other then the man himself, wearing loose shorts and a gym jacket which was zipped up halfway.

“Here”

= - = - =

Harvey : 1, Mike : 0

It wasn’t a shock that Mike got absolutely demolished. The first 15 minutes after Mike’s dramatic entrance they spent explaining him how boxing works, what he can’t and can do. the least surprised of them all was surprisingly Mike. He played the role of the sore loser really well but he knew that he faked it. He didn’t even try that hard.

It was true that Harvey was an amazing fighter but even Mike could feel that Harvey wasn’t trying because he thought he wasn’t a worthy opponent. Every time Harvey would dodge right, Mike would swing left. Every time Harvey would take a swing to his stomach, he would duck and get hit in the face instead.

They took a 3 minute break after that, which was mostly spent with Harvey stretching and Mike getting a pep talk from Donna which he only listened to half the time. And soon enough, it was time for round two.

Both of them stepped into the ring, coming together before the fight began. Harvey spoke “Well, ready to lose?” “Hey, you never lose until you actually quit” 

“Did you just quote Mike Tyson at me?”

“You decide” Mike stuck out his gloved hand and Harvey bumped it. They both headed to their separate corners waiting for the makeshift bell, that was just Jessica’s ringtone to ring. A few seconds later the noise filled the room and the second round began.

They moved around each other for a bit until Harvey moved to the middle. Mike had the instinct to dodge left but did the opposite making him a good target to get punched right in the gut. He kept his cool, not trying to make it obvious that he wasn’t trying.

Harvey swung at his head but made way too obvious so Mike let himself dodge and try and take a swing at Harvey. They danced around each other for a couple of seconds, a few fake punches from Harvey and a few from Mike. He escaped the last round with a bruised hip but he didn’t know how he would do this round.

In the corner of his eye he saw a mess of black curly hair, he took a second glance and Harvey struck him right in the jaw “Eyes on me, rookie” Mike threw up his fists giving Harvey his full attention. “1 minute left!” Donna shouted.

This round took longer than the last one which only took 1 minutes and 34 seconds. Now Harvey had only a few minutes to beat Mike and it seemed he noticed. He threw a few coordinated punches Mike’s way which he wasn’t able to dodge and Mike somehow landed one in his chest but it barely scratched him. They threw a few more punches at each other until a loud—

“Time!”

They both lowered their arms and stepped to their sides of the court. Mike hung onto the ropes, trying to look as beat as he can. “Mike!” Donna yelled behind him. She gave him a water bottle which he gladly took after taking of his right glove. He glanced at Harvey who looked perfectly fine, not even out of breath, jesus he wasn’t going to have a fun time on missions being this sore. Donna announced the score :

Harvey : 2, Mike : 0

No shock. He looked at the previously seen mess of hair and noticed that the figure was standing more clearly. That was Kim. Kimberly Mary Clark. AKA his actual boss from the police station. She motioned for him to come to her, now how was he supposed to go to her without being obvious… He could have planned everything to the last detail but decided to go the easy way.

“Bathroom break!” he jumped over the rope and headed the way to the bathroom, winking at his boss at the same time. “I didn’t hit you that hard in the gut, did I?” Harvey replied with a smirk, Mike was way too focused on what the hell his boss was doing here to add some snarky comment.

“Good day ,Mike, came to say hi to your boss?”

“I came to ask on how the hell did you know I would be here?”

“I always know”

“It was Shana, wasn’t it?”

“Of course it was Shana”

“Well that still begs the question of why are you here”

“Well I originally came here to see you kick some lawyers ass but I guess not” Kim took a sip of her coffee, her dark fingers gripped the cup firmly. “Explain to me, what happened, Michael?” “What are you talking about” “You got beat by a lawyer - in a boxing match” she leaned against the wall taking another sip of her probably Americano coffee.

“Well he’s pretty strong, I’m trying my hardest bu—“ “I’ll stop you right there and call bullshit. Mike, I’ve seen you fight and that’s not you trying, that’s you giving him the win” “Kim—“

“Shut up, your boss is talking” she threw her cup in the bin that was conveniently right there “I know for a god damn fact that you can win this god forsaken match if you actually tried. Why aren’t you trying?” “Kim, I—“ “Is it because it’s Harvey and you don’t want to hurt him? Is it beca—“

“I don’t want to be found out!”

“What?”

“I don’t want him to find out that I’m a cop by him finding out that I might be stronger than him!” Kim stayed quiet for a moment. And then burst out laughing, Mike just stared at her in disbelief, could she take him seriously? “You… You… How would he even find out?!” she kept laughing.

“Because he’s Harvey, he probably could read my mind if he tried hard enough”

“Yeah maybe, if he tried. But he’s not so why don’t you go and try to win this bullshit”

“Kim, but I—“

“Mike, where are you? We want to finish this fight” Mike was cut off by Donna’s worried voice and he knew that he had only a couple of seconds to decide on what to do. He had a plan that he thought about for 2 hours and now he had 40 seconds to decide. He turned to his boss for help and she just shook her head and spoke firmly “Look, Mike. I came her not to lose to some hotshot lawyer but for you to beat that your prescribed hot ass, so get your sweaty ass back in the ring and do that” 

“What do you mean my prescribed?”

“You know what I mean now go! That’s an order”

Mike breathed in and jogged to the ring, Jessica and Louis were sitting on a nearby bench with Harvey and Donna was standing near the entrance that Mike just ran through “Sorry! The bathroom had a line” “And I was starting to think you chickened out” Harvey stood from his spot and walked to him, he had both of their gloves in each hand, he held out Mike’s gloves and he took them gratefully.

“Let’s go?”

“Let’s go”

= - = - =

Harvey : 2, Mike : 1

Mike won. To the shock of literally everyone in the room. Jessica was laughing her ass off and Harvey just looked like he had seen Jesus. It’s like Mike flipped a switch from dodging into every single punch to punching Harvey in the jaw and even winning with a K.O. and not a technicality win.

Harvey was beat, and they both knew that tomorrow he would have definite bruise on his cheekbone where Mike nailed a strong punch. Harvey wasn’t about to give up but what he was going to do is find out what steroids he ate up during that bathroom break.

Mike took his water bottle and drank almost half of it, Harvey made his was to him, maybe inspect his gloves to make sure he didn’t put any iron bars like some old 90s cartoon. “What are you doing?” Mike asked as Harvey was checking his gloves “Looking for steroids” “I’m sorry?” “You’re forgiven” the ache in his jaw wasn’t going to stop the sarcastic comments.

“Really now? Seriously, Harvey” “I would be serious if you would explain how you went from 1 to 11 in merely 10 minutes” Mike seemed to quiet and think about his answer. He shrugged. Are you fucking kidding me? Shrugged. This kid—

“Okay then answer me this, have you ever boxed before?” Mike shook his head “Have you ever fought before?” Mike hesitated but then nodded. Son of a— “So you’re telling me that you played me for the past 2 rounds so that I would let my guard down and then you could beat me?” Mike smirked and shrugged again. He gulped down more of the water and Harvey just huffed “Well then don’t expect me to go easy on you. Now, I know what’s your plan, and I just got one as well”

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” 

“Stop with the Mike Tyson quotes”

“Why should I stop something you love me for?”

“Starting in 30 seconds!” Donna shouted from her seat. “Good luck, Mike” Harvey held out his fist, not gloved. Mike actually was shocked at that but didn’t waste a moment to grin and and bumped his fist.

“Good luck, Harvey”

= - = - =

“3… 2… 1… Knockout!”

Harvey groaned. He was surprised he didn’t break his neck in the fall - or in the previous round. He was now laying on his stomach, everything hurt, everything ached. Mike stood like a champ, only panting gave away his tired state.

Harvey : 2, Mike : 3

“Come on, Harvey… Get up” Mike stuck out his hand, the glove now gone. Harvey, the cold bastard he is would usually just stand up on his own and brush it off but at this moment, he doesn’t even think he can go the last round. He was beat. He grasped Mike’s hand and got pulled up to his feet.

Mike placed his hands on Harvey’s shoulder reassuring his stance as wobbly as his legs were “I’ve got you…” Mike made a sign with his hand and had a water bottle thrown his way which we magically caught. “Here” Harvey took it gratefully, wasn’t about to refuse something he desperately needed. “Should we do a 15 minute break? Maybe longer? How long do you need?” 

“No… it’s fine… I think I’m done for the day” Harvey admitted, in the background he could hear Louis shout a ‘What?!’ in a surprised tone but it’s not like Harvey was focusing on him. He was focusing on the pain, the exhaustion and Mike. Mike had won - and Harvey was fucking proud.

“You won, fair and square. I guess you really are man enough to defend yourself” they both chuckled, it was like the tension of the argument 2 days ago was gone. They were back, Mike and Harvey were back baby and they weren’t going anywhere until the next argument.

“Okay love birds, get your asses over here, Jessica went to grab some ice packs” Donna’s voice cut through the silence and both men then noticed how close they were standing, Harvey’s right hand on his side and left hand on Mike’s hip for support whilst Mike was holding onto Harvey’s shoulders.

Harvey Specter doesn’t blush, he blames the physical exercise. Mike Ross does blush, he doesn’t deny facts. Mike helps Harvey to get over the ropes and onto the benches. They spend another hour or so with cold ice packs, Jessica teasing Harvey, Donna worrying about both her boys and Louis (after getting yelled at by Donna) sitting quietly at the end of the bench.

At one point Mike looked to see Kim in the corner. She smiled and showed a thumbs up then walked out of the room, or the building perhaps. Mike smiled, this definitely wasn’t the end of his explanation of how and where he learned to fight but for now, they could all relax a bit at the humor and being out of the office.

By 4 pm, the audience (Louis, Donna and Jessica) had already left and now it was just Mike and Harvey standing near the entrance of the gym. “Well, I will definitely have a hard time coming out of bed tomorrow” “Same here, but you’ll probably have a worse time” Mike smiled sincerely, the kid apologized for hitting him so hard multiple times and Harvey brushed of each one but he still smiled back, as rare as that was.

Harvey saw a familiar car pull up near the gym and he knew it was time to say his goodbyes. “Well, Mike, remember me when you become the best boxer in the world. The temp for greatness is the biggest drug in the world, don’t let it consume you” Mike shot up when Harvey walked to the car. Before climbing in he heard “Who’s the one quoting Mike Tyson now!” he beamed like a little kid, it was a sight indeed. Harvey smirked and closed the car door.

Mike was something else, something else entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language so I’m sorry if I made any mistakes!
> 
> This is also my first ever work on this website you criticism is welcomed so I could improve as much as I can! :DD


End file.
